Senior Madison McNiff ran 19:10 for 6th place and senior Kiley Walsh 19:35 for 9th, and the Cherry Hill East placed third among 17 teams in the Varsity A race Saturday at the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational.
Cherry Hill East placed all five of its scorers in the top 35 and then had both of its non-scorers just a few spots back.
Senior Chloe Diamond placed 26th in 20:36 over the 5,000-meter course at Great Adventure in Jackson, junior Anna Kramer was five seconds back in 29th with a 20:41, and senior Michelle Barry finished 35th in 21:06.
East showed its depth with junior Alexis Tepper in 38th in 21:14 and senior Emily Volin 45th in 21:3.
Conestoga High of Berwyn, Pa., won the team title with 67 points and North Rockland of Thiells, N.Y., was second with 80 points. East scored 102 for third. Cherry Hill East’s five scorers averaged 20:13.
Cherry Hill East finished eighth out of 58 schools that fielded a full team in the various races in the overall merge.
Highland junior Grace Wassell matched McNiff with a 19:10 for the fastest time by a South Jersey girl at Great Adventure. Wassell placed 11th in the Varsity C race, and senior teammate Princess Nwoga was two spots back in 19:34.
Wassell and McNiff tied for 22nd-fastest time out of nearly 700 entrants in all the races.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 